Villagers in Barton under Needwood are finally breathing a sigh of relief as work on a road branded the worst in Britain is completed.

Alison Jones, who is a councillor on Barton Parish Council, said she has received positive comments from people in the village on the work to resurface the B5016 Station Road along with the three roundabouts onto the A38.

The road was once dubbed the worst in Britain because of the number of potholes, but it is now a very different story after a major £500,000 revamp scheme by Staffordshire County Council to resurface it.

How Station Road in Barton under Needwood looked before the work was carried out.

The work has included deep repair patches to some of the worst holes on the bridge over the A38. The five weeks of work was completed overnight to cause as little disruption to people getting to work as possible.

Councillor Jones said: "People have said that it is much, much better and they are very relieved that it has been done. It is a lot easier to drive over. The only problem is that they have closed St Peter's Bridge which means that more people are now going over Walton bridge to get to Burton.

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"I am really happy that the road and roundabouts have now been finished as with everything that is going on with the closure it would mean that it would really struggle now.

"It was very efficient way of doing it at night as it did not effect people too much in the day but you could see that more had been done every day while the work was being carried out."

However, don't get too complacent as regular users of the road will face disruption next year after it was revealed that Highways England, which maintains the bridge structure, is planning further works on a separate stretch of the road next year. It will completely resurface the carriageway over the bridge.

The road has been causing problems for drivers for years

Councillor Jones said part of this section of the road had now been patched over until the work begins next year which means drivers are no longer in for a bumpy ride.

Burton Mail readers have previously made their voices heard over the state of the road before the work was completed with Andrew Hollyhead, from Barton, going as far as to call the B5016 island on the way back from Walton to Barton as "moon-like" and "more suited for an off-road vehicle".

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Others have said that there were better roads in India and Africa than Barton. Last year the roundabout made national news and headlines with people dubbing it one of the worst roads in the country for its potholes and general condition.

The road, that was formerly referred to as like the surface of the moon, is now looking a lot better

Helen Fisher, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet support member for highways and transport, said: "Our £500,000 investment at Barton Turns is part of our wider package of improvements right across the county. I'm sure motorists will notice a real difference and I would like to thank people for their patience while the work was carried out."